Banh Tieu

Have I stumped you with the title? Banh Tieu is a Vietnamese type of pastry. It is hallow on the inside and resembles bread or a doughnut. It is very similar to beignet. Banh tieu is my all time favorite Vietnamese snack to munch on so when I discovered a Vietnamese cooking show posted on youtube that showed you how to make it, I just had to give it a shot. Here is the video, but I'll have to warn you, it isn't in English.

The chef in the video reminded me of my mother. She would say things like, "Use 5 soup spoons of sugar and two coffee spoons of melted butter." I had the exact soup spoon she used to measure the sugar, but had to consult with my mother what a "coffee" spoon really was. Surprisingly, the recipe was a cinch so I am sharing it. Here is my modified version using our metric measuring system, just in case you don't have the same soup spoon as me :) I was able to make 24 per batch so invite your friends over!

Ingredients

5 cups self-rising flour
3/4 cups of sugar
2 tbsp of melted butter
1 package of alsa brand baking powder
salt
sesame seeds
2cups water

Start out placing 5 cups of self-rising flour into a mixer fixed with a bread paddle.

Into the flour mixture, add 2 tbsp melted butter, 3/4 cups of sugar and 2 pinches of salt. Once mixed, add the 2 cups of water and the package of baking powder. Continue to mix until a dough ball is formed.

I don't exactly know the difference between this french brand baking powder and the clabber girl brand that I usually use, other than I am told it is better for this recipe. The baking powder comes in packages of seven for 99 cents at my local asian grocery store.

Remove the dough from the mixer and knead by hand until a dough ball can be formed. Place it in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for at least 3 hours.

After 3 hours, the dough should nearly double in size. Remove the dough and separate into smaller portions (roughly the size of an egg).

Dip the dough into sesame seeds for a cruncher pastry or roll the dough out first and then sprinkling some sesame seeds on top.



Roll the dough flat, making sure you dust the surface with some flour so that it doesn' t stick.

Place the flattened dough into hot oil (medium-high heat) and watch it puff up, giving its hallowness.

It will brown rather quickly so you must watch it. Once it browns on one side, flip it to brown the other. Remove from oil and let it drain on a paper towel.

Serve it hot while it is crisp on the outside.

It brings back such memories of my childhood.

YUM-O!